Optimization of Gas Turbines Electric Load References for a CCPP in "m + n" Multi-shaft Configuration
(Room Lehar 3)
20 Jun 18
2:00 PM
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3:30 PM
Tracks:
Track 3: Big Data, Big Opportunity.
During these years power plant’s managers are involved always more often in challenges due to grid’s requirements growth: frequency regulation, readiness-to and fast start-up, grid restoration are the main issues for modern power plants in Europe. Even to satisfy the energy market it is necessary to guarantee high dynamic performance of the plant in its whole different configurations: therefore operators cannot follow up these requests manually because of the high complexity of the involved maneuvers, while the major risk is grid unbalance, causing a highly probable loss of money to the owner ! For these reasons the level of automation nowadays is increasing and it takes on a key role to optimally control power plants. This method is an high level automation logic, whose aim is the distribution of the plant electric load reference, coming typically from a National Load Dispatcher among the gas turbines of a combined cycle power plant in "multi-shaft m + n" configuration (m gas turbines + n steam turbines). In particular this method optimizes the maximum and minimum plant load rate and load variation during all power plant transients, including the case of different maximum/minimum load and load rate limits gas turbines (e.g. for a gas turbine temporary load rate limitation). Furthermore the advantage of this algorithm is its scalability: it can be applied both to a group of "m" gas turbines running in open cycle, if a single load reference is required for them, or to several complete combined cycle power plants, each of them with different “m + n” configuration (e.g. 2+1, 3+2, 4+1 etc.) and performances, and even installed in different areas but controlled and monitored from a common central control room.